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Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis at 30 Reduces Life Expectancy by 14 Years
The study implied that every decade earlier a patient is diagnosed correlates to a 3- or 4-year decline in life expectancy.
A recent study published in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, funded by the British Heart Foundation, Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health and Care Research, and Health Data Research UK, highlighted the impacts of a type 2 diabetes (T2D) diagnosis on life expectancy. The researchers noted that a diagnosis by the age of 30 could reduce life expectancy by up to 14 years.
Researchers analyzed data from the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration and the UK Biobank, which covers individuals from 19 high-income countries. The data provided insight into over 1.5 million participants and over 23.1 million person–years of follow-up.
Compared to participants who did not have type 2 diabetes, patients diagnosed with T2D had a significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality at an earlier age. According to the study, being diagnosed with T2D at 30–39 correlated with a 2.69 greater probability of premature mortality.
Additionally, adults diagnosed at 40–49 were linked to a 2.26 times greater risk of early mortality. As the age of diagnosis increased, the change in all-cause mortality risk was less dramatic.
Patients diagnosed at 50–59 had a 1.84 times greater risk of early all-cause mortality, while those diagnosed at 60–69 had a 1.57 times greater risk. Finally, those diagnosed at 70 or older had a 1.39 more significant chance.
Beyond evaluating and comparing risks with healthy patients, researchers looked at changes in life expectancy among patients in the United States, noting that a diagnosis at 30 died an average of 14 years earlier. Those diagnosed at 40 died 10 years older, and those diagnosed at 50 died 6 years earlier than those without diabetes.
Comparatively, patients in the European Union died approximately 13, 9, and 5 years earlier.
“Every decade of earlier diagnosis of diabetes was associated with about 3 or 4 years of lower life expectancy, highlighting the need to develop and implement interventions that prevent or delay the onset of diabetes and to intensify the treatment of risk factors among young adults diagnosed with diabetes,” concluded the researchers in the publication.
